Revenge

Intro

My name is Tara Carnell. I’ve always been the tall girl in every photo — blonde hair, light‑blue eyes, standing at 5'11" with a medium build that made people assume I belonged on a volleyball court even though I never touched the sport. Tomorrow, I turn eighteen. It’s a birthday I’ve been counting down to for years, imagining what it would feel like to finally step into adulthood with everything lined up exactly the way I planned.

But before tomorrow comes, I have one last milestone to cross: my high school graduation.

Getting here wasn’t easy. People say that all the time, but for me it was the truth in a way that sat heavy. School wasn’t just homework and tests — it was trying to stay focused while life at home spun like a revolving door. My dad, my brother, and there friends… always in and out of jail. Always another phone call, another court date, another reason to wonder why the people I loved kept falling into the same dark places.

That’s why I wanted Harvard Law. Not for the prestige, not for the name, but because I was tired of watching the people I cared about get swallowed by a system I didn’t understand. I wanted to be the one who could walk into a courtroom and fight for them. I wanted answers. I wanted justice. I wanted to be the damn best lawyer anyone could ask for.

Or so I thought.

Because the truth is, I didn’t know everything yet. I didn’t know the real reasons behind all those arrests. I didn’t know the secrets that were being kept from me. I didn’t know how fast my future could twist into something I never expected.

But that comes later.

Right now, we start where everything still felt steady — where the world hadn’t cracked open yet — my graduation day.